How To Be Your Dragon
by shadowsofthealmighty
Summary: After the film, everything is fine in Berk until a white-haired man arrives. Thank you for nothing, you useless wizard. Hiccup/ Astrid transformation into dragons, OC but no pairing.
1. Chapter 1: The Magic of Surprise

How to Be Your Dragon

Chapter One: The Magic of Surprise

Note: I do not own _How to Train Your Dragon_ nor any related copyrights such as Hiccup, Toothless, Berk, Astrid, and other such related characters and places.

Brilliant sunbeams slanted through the thick foliage of the forest as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III blinked his sleepy eyes open.

Hiccup looked around at the familiar valley. A pond took up most of the space and nearly vertical cliffs surrounded the perimeter. It was the worst place to find yourself, if you were unable to fly, of course, and Hiccup knew all about that.

It was only a year ago that he had managed to bring down a legendary Night Fury, a supposedly undefeatable dragon, with a device of his own creation, slicing off one of its tail wings. However, instead of finishing it off, he befriended the creature, and their friendship has led them on many "enjoyable" adventures.

Hiccup smiled and turned to his right to face the massive Night Fury lying next to him, Toothless. An ironic name, indeed, but it was a name that managed to stick. Toothless started to stir and lifted its head off the ground.

"Heya Toothless." Hiccup said, greeting his draconic friend in his typical nasally voice. Toothless purred and turned to face Hiccup.

Suddenly Toothless froze; his eyes widened and his ears perked up. Moments later, Toothless had rapidly risen up and stumbled away from Hiccup, a look of stunned surprise across its black face.

"Toothless, what's the matter bud… woah!" Hiccup tried to ask while getting up himself, only to find himself sprawled face-first on the ground. His limbs felt leaden, his shoulders ached, and his back…

Hiccup's head picked up as soon as his mind turned to his back. Some strange appendage was now connected to his back, two in fact. His entire body felt as though it was pulled out and rearranged. And why did he have the intense craving for raw fish?

Hiccup tried to lever himself up by his arms, only to find himself now being supported by twin black stumps, stumps that looked oddly familiar.

He wiggled his fingers; small protrusions from the stump wiggled too.

"Huh?" Hiccup asked out loud, pushing himself up. Finally it got through his head that his arms had been turned into the front paws of a black dragon. Hiccup turned around wildly, trying to examine the rest of himself. Sure enough, leathery wings protruded from his back, a sleek tail protruded from his backside, and his entire body was covered in obsidian scales.

"Okay…" Hiccup said, his heart pounding in his chest, "this… this isn't… ah… this isn't normal."

With a scuffle and a leap, Hiccup managed to pull himself to the edge of the pool of water.

Sure enough, Toothless' large yellow eyes gleamed back at him.

He wasn't _exactly_ like Toothless; he was skinner, his limbs were longer, and his face was squatter than that of his dragon friend. Still, he could not deny that somehow, by some force of nature, he had been turned into a Night Fury.

"How…?" Hiccup began to ask himself before being interrupted by the iconic shriek of a Night Fury. Hiccup looked at Toothless who was, in turn, looking at the forest above, the source of the screech.

"HICCUP!" A familiar voice bellowed as a massive black figure tore through the trees, coming to a stop right at the edge of the valley. Hiccup gazed in mute shock at yet another Night Fury, though with a slimmer face and more pronounced ears.

The new Night Fury gasped for breath, its eyes wide open as it scanned the valley. Finally, its eyes landed on Hiccup and it incredulously asked, "Hiccup? Is that you?"

Hiccup nearly choked on hearing the familiar voice coming out of a dragon. "Astrid? Is that you? But… how… what happened?"

With an angry scowl, the Astrid-Fury replied, "Why don't you ask_ him_?" and turned her tail to view.

Clutching to the tip of the tail for dear life was the newest visitor to the village, his crystal spectacles askew, leaves and dirt in his thick white hair. The bizarre man gasped for breath, wheezing, "Gabblefreglit… ipretervig… zbbledor… agafault… whoosh!"

After taking a deep breath and gulping, he finally managed to squeak his first coherent sentence: "Please don't kill me."

…

_24 Hours earlier_

…

Berk, the town located on the Meridian of Misery, just a few degrees south of Freezing to Death, was happily going about its business. In no other place in the world was there anything like Berk, the town that coexisted with dragons.

Now, Vikings are not at all the first thing that comes into anyone's head when being told of such a town, but yes, the most famous dragon hunters now lived side-by-side with their once mortal enemies. Sure there were scuffles and mishaps, but everything was kept in a state of order by one little Viking…

"Hiccup!" Gobber called from his forge.

The Viking lad stumbled over to the forge, quick on his feet (or foot and prosthetic), having just stepped outside to a beautiful sunrise. "Morning Gobber!' Hiccup replied, hobbling over to support himself on one of the posts that held up the forge. "So, how can I help?"

"Hiccup, I hate to bother you," Gobber replied, picking up a piece of paper from the table in front of him, "but I'm having trouble making this saddle for Lurchox. His Nadder accidentally ate it while he was going out for some fish, and I suppose he needs a new one. But I can't make, heads or tails out of these blueprints of yours, Hiccup." He handed over the sketches to the industrious Viking.

"Um… Gobber?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes Hiccup?"

Hiccup turned the paper right side up and handed it back to the smith. "Oh… thanks Hiccup. I was wondering why all the words looked funny…"

"Morning, Hiccup!" Another voice called out from behind him. Turning around, he faced the single Viking he liked most on this island: Astrid.

"Morning, Astrid." Hiccup happily replied as the blond-headed Viking girl walked up to him. "Good day isn't it?"

"Yeah, me and Battleaxe are going out for a ride today, you and Toothless wanna join us?"

"Well…" Hiccup replied, knowing Astrid's Nadder, "seeing as I have nothing much to do today except help Gobber in the forge…"

"No, no Hiccup," Gobber interjected, having his hand in a dismissive fashion, "You go off and have fun. I can handle myself here. Now, I wonder what this thingy does…"

"I guess I'm free today, then." Hiccup finished happily. "Now all we have to do is find…"

"Night Fury!" A Viking called out, as a large black figure rounded the corner of the street and bounded towards Hiccup. Leaping over a pack of Terrible Terrors and through a group of Vikings trying to keep aforementioned Terrors under control, Toothless landed next to Hiccup, giving him a long, wet, lick.

"And that saves us a bunch of trouble!" Hiccup laughed as he tried to push Toothless down. "Hey buddy, what do you say we go flying with Astrid and Battleaxe, huh?"

Toothless purred contently and rubbed up alongside Hiccup who started rubbing under his chin. "I'll take that as a yes." Astrid said laughing.

Eventually the great dragon turned to his side to allow Hiccup easy access to the saddle on his back. Hiccup grabbed onto the saddle and called back to Astrid, "You go find Battleaxe, we'll go ahead tooyyaaAAHHH!" Hiccup yelled as suddenly Toothless took off running through the streets, leaving Hiccup face-down in a puddle outside the forge.

"Toothless! Where are you going?" Astrid called after the Night Fury as it ran through the streets, pushing aside obstacles as it ran into the forest adjacent to the town. "Where's Toothless going, Hiccup?"

"Um Astrid…" Hiccup replied to the ground, "Maybe I could see if…"

"Oh, right!" Astrid cried, suddenly noticing Hiccup's plight, and lifted Hiccup out of the puddle and steadied him on his prosthetic leg.

"Thank you, Astrid." Hiccup thanked the Viking lass and looked off to see Toothless running into the deeper parts of the forest. "He's never done anything like this before, not at all."

"Need any help?" Astrid asked, her arm around Hiccup's shoulder.

"No, I think I can find him." Hiccup responded and took a step forward.

"Of course," he said, changing his mind after finding himself in the puddle yet again, "Maybe it'd be easier if I had some help…"

…

On the back of Battleaxe, Hiccup and Astrid soared through the clouds over Berk. The forest beneath them stretched for what seemed like an eternity. The Nadder silently flew across the island as Hiccup and Astrid called for Toothless.

"Where could he have gotten to?" Hiccup thought aloud.

"I don't know." Astrid responded for the third time. "Hiccup, I why are you so worried about him? He can take care of himself."

"I know, it's just…" Hiccup trailed off as he gazed into the horizon.

"What?" Astrid pressed.

"I'm afraid something will happen to him." Hiccup finished. "I'm afraid… someone will hurt him."

Astrid was silent for a few minutes. "Someone…" Astrid slowly said, as if comprehending an impossible thought, "…hurt… Toothless… the Night Fury… we're talking about the same Toothless here, right?"

"I know," Hiccup muttered, "but I really think something bad can happen."

A moment later, he felt Astrid punch him in the arm, _hard_.

"That," Astrid bluntly said, "was for being an idiot."

"Well you didn't have to punch me so…" Hiccup trailed off as Astrid kissed him. His blinked several times as she backed away.

"And that," Astrid said softly, "was for caring for him."

"Right…" Hiccup said, turning back to the forest in order to hide the blush that was creeping across his cheeks, "I'll never get used to that."

Astrid smirked but only for a second as suddenly her Nadder froze in mid-air, sending both of its passengers into each other. The Nadder's head darted left to right furiously, as if it sensed some vile presence nearby.

"What's the matter Battleaxe?" Astrid asked her dragon, rubbing the Nadder where its jaw connected with the neck.

They were soon distracted by the unmistakable shriek of a Night Fury, followed closely by an undeniably human scream. "I think we found him." Hiccup said, his eyes widening in fear. Astrid urged the Nadder into a dive and they pushed into the forest.

Breaking the upper layer of foliage, the two Vikings and dragon found themselves over a familiar valley: Toothless' unofficial "lair." The aforementioned black monster was standing over and growling at a thin figure sprawled on the ground.

Descending further, Astird and Hiccup were able to make out the figure underneath saying something along the lines of, "Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. I want to live, I have so much life ahead of me. I don't wanna die."

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried out, trying to hop off of Battleaxe as soon as she landed. Looking up from his captive, Toothless spotted Hiccup and immediately rushed to his side. Wrapping around Hiccup's body, Toothless glared at the figure that was finally getting to its feet.

Hiccup had never seen this man before, nor anyone like him. He was taller than Hiccup, but just as scrawny. His thick white hair was tangled and frayed, not to mention covered by dirt and leaves. Two terrified blue eyes stared out from behind a pair of crystals joined together by twine and sticks. A thick woolen coat covered his thin body, exaggerating his thin head. A heavy knapsack hung around his shoulders and bulged with an innumerable amount of unidentifiable materials. Overall, the man gave the impression of looking at a walking coat rack.

Gasping for breath, the man slowly reached down for a hatchet that had fallen at his side. No sooner had he begun to reach then Toothless growled and pushed forwards somewhat. With great fear in his voice, the man kicked aside the hatchet, saying, "Okay! No hatchet, nooooooo hatchet. Gotcha: hatchet bad, baaaaad hatchet. See… hatchet's gone… please don't kill me."

"He… ah… won't kill you." Hiccup said anxiously, trying to reassure the panicking man.

Finally looking at Hiccup, the man replied, "Well, begging your pardon, but I really don't think I can take your word for that." A barking growl erupted from Toothless' mouth, causing the man to throw up his arms and say, "You know what, why not; I'll believe you."

"It's okay Toothless." Hiccup reassured the black dragon, scratching under his chin, "He doesn't look dangerous, I don't think he'll harm you, or me." Hiccup added as an afterthought. Toothless quieted down, but still remained close to his Viking friend.

"Toothless, huh?" The man said, trying in vain to start some pleasant conversation. "Nice name, quite ironic."

Astrid took three strides to the man, pulling out her own massive axe. "Okay, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Ah yes, out of the frying pan and into the fire." The man said, keeping his hands high above his head, "Of course. Um… it's very hard to think with a weapon in my face… er… Viking girl."

"Astrid." Hiccup corrected him, stepping forward. "And I have to say, I've never seen someone like you before."

"Well, may I say that I've never seen a Viking as scrawny as you before." This elicited a low growl from Toothless and a jab from Astrid. "But furthermore, my eccentric appearance is possibly of great concern to you." Collecting his courage, the man waved his hands mysteriously. "I happen to be… a _wizard_!"

Astrid and Hiccup were silent. Toothless appeared to scoff.

"Okay, so I'm training, big deal." The man said, shrugging. He held his hand out past Astrid to Hiccup. "The name's Merlin, what's yours?"

"Hiccup." The Viking responded, regretting 24 hours later his decision to shake the wizard's hand.


	2. Chapter 2: The Magic of Wizards

How to Be Your Dragon

Chapter Two: The Magic of Wizards

Note: I do not own _How to Train Your Dragon_ nor any related copyrights such as Hiccup, Toothless, Berk, Astrid, and other such related characters and places.

_Author's Note: Thank you for all of the positive comments about my work. I intend to make it humorous and eventful. But wait, I'm just building up to the big event._

"So, now that we're all friends…" Merlin said, putting his hands down by his side, "can we, ah, can we not point axes at friends?" Astrid narrowed her eyes at Merlin but lowered her weapon from his throat.

"All right, let's get talking." Astrid said, still eying the wizard up and down, "Where are you from, how did you get here, and why are you here?"

"Covering all of your bases, I see. All right." Merlin took a deep breath and began, "I was apprenticed to a wizard in England, an island far to (I think) the West of here. However, my inability to follow in traditional magic and a few, well, incidents have caused him to send me off forever. Still, he has entrusted with me something I have to deliver." Holding up a hand to quiet Astrid, "It's secret I can't tell you. My boat got wrecked in a storm somewhere around Freezing to Death and I found myself on this island with only my backpack and this," he said, holding up what appeared to be a broken stylus. "Looking for water and food, I made my way here where I was discovered by," He gestured towards the threatening black dragon that was protectively drawn around Hiccup, "this little creature. I drew a hatchet to defend myself and, lo and behold, he jumped me… Aaaaaaand I think that covers it."

There was quiet for a moment. "Well, I guess we can trust him." Hiccup finally said, patting Toothless on its head.

Merlin gave a small bow and said, "I thank you for your trust." However, Astrid stepped towards him and tilted his head up.

"How do we know that you're a wizard?" She asked, still suspicious of the newcomer.

Merlin bent back up and carefully removed Astrid's hand from his chin. "I'd love to prove that, but that would require my wand to not be broken." Again, Merlin held up the broken stick. Hiccup now noticed that upon the piece of wood were scrawled lines of a strange language and arcane markings.

"That twig?" The Viking girl asked.

"It's not just a twig!" Merlin gasped, offended, "It took time and care to select a suitable branch and then carve my mystical runes into the… okay, it's a twig." Merlin finally conceded. "But I still have to prepare it."

Astrid took a stick form the ground and pushed it into Merlin's hand. "Here, use this."

Merlin grappled with the wand. "Ahm, it's not that easy to make a new wand. It'll take me some time to inscribe the new wards into it…"

"Good, you can do it on the way to the village." Astrid turned and started to walk away.

"Oh," Merlin, whimpered, wincing at the sound of work. "Maybe we can hold off on our little trek for a while? I need some rest after this… thing…"

Hiccup looked between Merlin and Astrid. "Well, we can always fly."

"Well, unless we suddenly sprout wings, I doubt that's going to be the least bit eff- oh I get it now." He finished, suddenly comprehending Hiccup's words. He looked between Toothless, who was glaring at him, and Battleaxe, from where Astrid was glaring at him. "Err… um… Are there any other…?"

"You can fly with me." Astrid sighed, getting onto Battleaxe, "Toothless won't let anyone near him except Hiccup or me."

Merlin gulped and made his way towards Battleaxe, taking a wide path around Toothless and Hiccup. "Well, ahm… it isn't just that… you see… ahm… wizards and dragons… we… magic and dragons don't mix… it just… whenever they get close… we… ahm… you see…" He pantomimed a small explosion.

"You'll explode?" Hiccup incredulously asked.

"No." Merlin asserted, now edging towards Battleaxe, "We just… ahm… bad things tend to happen."

"Don't worry." Hiccup said, smirking, "These dragons are a little friendlier here. And I hope you won't try to put any spells on them."

Looking directly at Toothless' yellow eyes, Merlin reached for Battleaxe and shook his head in real terror of having his limbs torn off. As Astrid pulled the timid wizard up, Hiccup got onto Toothless, locking his prosthetic foot into place in the saddle.

"So…" The wizard said, one hand clutching onto Astrid, the other holding the future wand, etching basic runes into the bark with his thumb. "The people of the town… they're nice?"

Hiccup laughed and settled into Toothless' saddle. "As nice as Vikings can be. Especially my dad, Stoic, though people say that one time someone took his meat and wound up with his face inside-out."

With a nervous chuckle of his own, Merlin said, "Oh, I doubt that."

With a two laughs and a scream, the three humans took off into the sky, Toothless easily overtaking the Nadder, who had to deal with the wizard's panic.

…

Stoic the Vast, Chief of Berk, gazed over the awning that was being rebuilt for the third time this month because of a dragon-related incident. _First it was the Terrible Terror infestation_ he thought, _then the "Sneezing Nightmare Incident", now Toothless_. Stoic sighed at the thought of his son's dragon. _His son's dragon_. Last year he only barely restrained himself from hurting his son upon hearing that he had befriended a dragon. Now… well, life wasn't easy, but far less people were dying.

"Let me help you with that." Stoic said to the Viking builders, reaching over towards the awning. With the flick of his wrist, the awning was pushed up into place and bolted with a few swings of the massive hammer that hung on his side. Much like many of the other Vikings, Stoic refused to give up his weapon, despite his son's promise of the end of draconic hostilities. His argument was that he'll disarm when they are unable to breathe fire. Hiccup gave in.

_Hiccup_, he shook his head again. The little twerp was now riding on the back of the most powerful dragon in existence. No Viking has been able to do it, nor was able to do it again. Sure, many tamed Gronkles, Nadders, and Zipplebacks. Stoic even had a Nightmare that he had befriended (which named Nightmare for multiple good reasons). Still, nobody has ever gotten as close to Toothless as Hiccup was able to. It was almost as though he was part-dragon himself. _And I wouldn't doubt it if someone told me he_ thought.

"Night Fury!" The familiar call echoed through the village as two dragons flew overhead. Stoic looked up at the pitch-black shape of Toothless, carrying Hiccup, of course, and the bright blue shape of Battleaxe.

Stoic squinted as the dragons drew closer. He wasn't the smartest Viking in the village, let alone the world, but he knew that when you went into the forest with two people, you don't come back with three.

…

"Hiccup?"

"Yes Merlin?"

"I believe you completely." Now face-to-beard with the Viking chief, Merlin looked up into the suspicious face of Stoic the Vast. He gulped; while Astrid scared him, Merlin was sure that this person was going to kill him.

"So your name's Merlin?" The Viking chief asked. "And you say you're a wizard?"

Merlin gulped as he squeaked in reply, "Yessir."

"Mighty big claim." Gobber said from the crowd that had surrounded the three Vikings, two dragons, and wizard. "How can we be sure?"

"No problem." Merlin said with forced brightness, holding up his crude wand. How was he able to carve the runes into the wand while clinging for dear life onto the Nadder's back? With great difficulty. "Is there anything metal nearby? A sword, perhaps?"

Not too long later, a Viking handed over a plain blade. Grabbing the blade with two hands, he seemed as if to attempt to break the weapon. After trying several times, the wizard was unable to bend the forged blade. Chuckling, he lifted the blade. "Anyone care to help me with this?"

The Vikings mumbled at the thought of damaging a weapon. "I promise it's going to be worth it." The wizard reassured the crowd. Eventually, Stoic reached out, took the blade, and with a simple motion, twisted the sword into a loop. "Wow." Merlin said, taking back the sword. "That was… ah… that was something. But seeing as our friend over here might want his weapon back, let's try to fix it for him, shall we?" He lifted the wand over the blade.

Suddenly the air grew still. Some power, conjured from the Earth itself, wound circles around the blade. Runes on the wand glowed in mesmerizing patterns. Dragons, even those further away, jolted to attention and backed away from the center of the power. The wizard spoke in low tones, a mystical language seeping every syllable with power. Vikings gasped in awe and fear as the blade, as though it were a thrashing eel, unbent itself and returned to its former position. As suddenly as it had started, the magic ended.

Looking around at the crowd, Merlin anticlimactically proclaimed, "Ta-da!"

The Viking village gathered around him, muttering and poking at the sword. Some slapped the wizard on the back, uttering words of praise and friendship; others gave the mystical being a wide berth. While the village was engrossed in the wizard's actions, Astrid took Hiccup by the shoulder and pointed towards the forest. Smiling, the two Vikings took off with their dragons, leaving Berk to its newest center of attention.

Gobber was one of the Vikings that patted the wizard on the back. "Well, you'd put me out of a job if you decided to go after forging as a career."

Merlin, now more at ease around the towering warriors, laughed with relief. "Yes, but I really need to continue with my little errand."

Stoic put a massive hand on Merlin's shoulder, causing the wizard to wheeze in shock. "Well, stay and rest the night! We'll provide a small ship for you tomorrow and you can be on your way!"

The wizard smiled gratefully, "Thank you Chief Stoic, I'm…"

Suddenly the wizard was thrown to the ground by an unseen hand. A dark force seemed to surround him. The Viking crowd that had once encircled him fell back in fear. Looking up from the ground, Merlin's eyes seemed a blank white. When he opened his mouth, no magical speech emerged, but rather dark words in mortal language. Words that echoed through the future and past now resounded through the streets of the village. Much like the spell, the magic ended as abruptly as it had started, leaving Merlin lying on the ground.

It was a while before Stoic worked up the nerves to reach over to the fallen wizard and shake him. "Wizard? Are you all right?"

Suddenly the white-haired man leapt up. "What did I say?" He asked wildly. Grabbing the nearby Gobber, Merlin shook him and asked, "Those words, what did I say?"

Gobber asked, "Err, what just happened?"

"What you all have heard was a prophecy." Merlin explained to the crowd of frightened faces. "This is something from the deep future: a prediction that you have heard, but I was unable to. Please tell me what I said."

Gobber uneasily began with, "I think you said something about the Black Knight finding the Blue?"

Nodding, Merlin pressed, "Good, good, but is there any more?"

The other Vikings started chiming in all at the same time:

"You said something with a bunch of numbers."

"Yeah, there was one and two, and something about three…"

"One and two becoming three!"

"Thank you Fishlegs, but I think we can all count…"

"I can't!"

"Something was blue and red!"

"Nuh-huh, Tuffnut, it was red and blue!"

"Same difference!"

"I remember how it ended." Stoic called out, silencing the other Vikings. "You said… 'And one shall fall.'"

Silence descended over the assembled Vikings. Merlin looked around, his face as pale as his hair. "That… is rarely a good prophecy."

The Vikings nervously stood around the wizard. Looking around at the mass of warriors, Merlin gave a nervous chuckle and said, "But… but don't worry. My prophecies are rarely anything important. For instance, one time I had a prophecy that 'the Lion of the North will destroy the Elder Champion,' and a man with a lion tattoo came from a northern town and defeated an old man in chess. This 'one shall fall' phrase can be something as simple as a tree falling in the forest, or a man falling asleep…"

Not paying attention to what he was doing, Gobber had placed his good hand onto a cart. The cart suddenly was pushed forward and the blacksmith Viking, swearing to the heavens, was thrown onto his face. The other Vikings turned to see the incident.

"…or that." Merlin finished, gesturing to the fallen Viking.

The crowd laughed, dispelling the unease that settled over all of them moments ago. As the villagers went to help out Gobber and return to their business, Merlin turned around to see that Hiccup and Astrid had left. A worried look on his face, the wizard slowly went to find a place to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: The Magic of Discovery

How to Be Your Dragon

Chapter Three: The Magic of Discovery

Note: I do not own _How to Train Your Dragon_ nor any related copyrights such as Hiccup, Toothless, Berk, Astrid, and other such related characters and places.

_Author's Note: And you thought I was dead! I'm sorry for the delay, but some things kept getting in the way (exams, graduation, video games, etc.) Still, here's the next chapter with more Hiccup, Astrid, and Merlin. Thanks for all of the positive feedback and stay tuned!_

Flying.

Toothless and Hiccup soared through the wide expanse of sky over the island of Berk, draconic wings slicing through the cotton clouds as they passed. In spirals and towers the clouds reached to infinity. Underneath, the sun had begun to vanish to wherever it travelled to when the moon arrived. Toothless breathed in the sweet air of the upper atmosphere.

Freedom.

Suddenly a blue figure roared past him. In shock, the Night Fury watched a pathetic Nadder overtake him, the female warrior on her back. The small human turned back to wave at his companion, who laughed above him.

"Looks like she wants to race." His friend said from his back. "Maybe we should let her win this one…"

Toothless scoffed. _Like Hel we will_.

Hiccup sensed the Night Fury's dissatisfaction. "Well then, are you going to let her beat us?" He asked laughingly.

With a scream of triumphant defiance, the Night Fury cut through the air, speeding towards the Nadder. The Viking on her back turned to face the Night Fury, a strange mixture of shock and awe on her face. It was a look that Toothless often had enjoyed on the faces of the village warriors when he demolished their large wooden towers. Of course, those days were long behind him.

That doesn't mean that he didn't enjoy the look on Astrid's face when he always won.

Triumphantly, Hiccup and Toothless yelled together as they raced down towards the island, to the forest, and to the valley where they first truly met.

…

His heart still racing, Hiccup finally settled to the ground, Toothless' wings being pulled to the dragon's side. "That was great Toothless…" Hiccup said, rubbing the dragon on its shoulder. Toothless purred happily rubbed up alongside Hiccup. Still, the Viking looked to the sky to see a blue shape coming in for a landing. "…but I don't think I'm going to hear the end of that."

Before the Nadder even touched ground, Astrid leapt off of her dragon, took a few angry strides to Hiccup, and punched him in the shoulder. "THAT'S for leaving me behind… AGAIN."

"Er… sorry Astrid, but you know how Tooth…" Hiccup started to say but was cut off by a kiss from the angry Viking warrior.

"And that was for… everything else."

"I really should start expecting that." Hiccup said, leaning on Toothless, who had lain down on the grass of the valley. Both Vikings laughed as the Nadder and Night Fury started relaxing. The Nadder sauntered over to the lake and stared down into the depths, watching the circling fish. Meanwhile Toothless simply sat in silent…

"WOAH!" Hiccup yelled in shock as the Night Fury, giving no warning, leapt up and dashed across to the other side of the valley. With a few leaps, the Night Fury was out of sight behind a jumble of rocks.

"Aaaand he's gone." Hiccup said, looking up from the sitting position he found himself in. "I seriously don't know what's up with Toothless today."

Astrid sighed and turned to the little Viking. "So… do you trust him?"

"What, Toothless?" Hiccup asked, looking incredulously up at Astrid. "I'd trust him with my life, but you know how he can be a little…"

"No, I mean HIM." Astrid interrupted, nodding her head towards the distant village. "The wizard."

"Merlin?" Hiccup asked more uneasily. "Him? Well… doesn't he sorta… you know… remind you of… me?"

"Scrawny, clumsy, and pathetic?" Astrid asked nonchalantly, as though she was being asked who her siblings were, "Yeah, I can see that."

Hiccup sighed, his head hung low. "Thank you for making me feel so much better about myself."

Astrid gave a light laugh and knelt down to Hiccup, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know I'm kidding Hiccup. But yeah, I know what you mean. He does have that 'Hiccup' quality around him. Still, do you trust him?"

Hiccup smiled looked at Astrid. "I'm sure I do."

Astrid raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "A Hiccup with magical powers?"

Hiccup stood and shrugged. "Hey, I turned out well. What's the worst that can happen?"

Astrid stood up, smiling back at Hiccup. "I guess you have a point." Suddenly she punched the Viking boy in the arm, causing him to wince in pain. "THAT'S for being too trusting."

Hiccup rubbed his arm, whining, "You know, can we have a limit of once a day on these things?"

Still, Astrid leaned close to him, saying, "And this is for everything else…"

Knowing what was coming, Hiccup closed his eyes and puckered his lips…

"Toothless!" Astrid called suddenly. Hiccup's eyes snapped open, revealing to him the great Night Fury, the first tamed monster of Berk, roughly pushing Astrid to the side.

"Toothless, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked as Toothless finally succeeded in sending the Viking girl sprawling. The dragon turned to face his friend, revealing something clamped in his teeth. Hiccup paused and bent to examine the object. "What's that you got here, bud?"

Toothless dropped the object to the ground. It appeared to be a perfectly oval crystal, about the size of a piece of mutton. Glowing in the last rays of evening, the crystal gave off a sharp blue color. Grooves and shapes were carved into the surface of the gemstone, giving it the appearance of flowing water.

"Where did you get this?" Hiccup asked, mouth agape. Toothless turned and pointed with his head at the pile of stones across the lake where the Night Fury had been playing earlier. Hiccup lifted the stone; it wasn't heavy, but it seemed to have a certain weight about it that gave it a mystical sense of importance. Astrid and Battleaxe soon came to the stone, both awed by its beauty.

"Hiccup, look." Astrid said, pointing to a series of symbols drawn into the stone. Hiccup examined them thoroughly, his mind ringing with a sense of recollection.

With sudden remembrance, Hiccup blurted out, "Merlin!" The sudden call caused Battleaxe to step backwards a few steps. "Hiccup looked directly at Astrid. "Those runes, they're the same kind as those on Merlin's wand."

"Exactly." Astrid took the stone from Hiccup, holding it up to the light to examine it better. "There's no doubt about it, it's magical." She looked back at Hiccup and said, "I think we need to take this back to Merlin right away."

"Yeah, maybe it's something important, like…" Hiccup tried to search for something that would be important to a wizard.

"Important." Astrid said, cutting Hiccup off.

"Right. He might need it." Hiccup stepped forward only to find himself falling to the ground.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, catching Hiccup before face and ground could be united.

"Er… no problem. I just… misstepped." Hiccup brushed himself off. Without warning, Hiccup suddenly yawned, drawing the attention of Toothless, who walked to Hiccup's side and proceeded to serve as a support.

"Hiccup? Are you really tired?" Astrid asked incredulously.

"I… uh… I guess so. I mean, it's been a long day, it's warm out…"

"Okay, I get it." Astrid said, raising her hand. "You rest, I'll take the stone back to Merlin." Tucking the mystical gem under her arm, she climbed onto Battleaxe and prodded it to take off.

Hiccup watched as Astrid and her Nadder shot through the tree line and into the air. He turned to face Toothless, who was looking at Hiccup with concern on its face. "I'm telling you Toothless, I'm fine." He pushed himself away from the Night Fury and into the earth.

"You know," Hiccup said, lying on his side, "this is as good a place as any to take a nap." Letting loose a great Viking yawn, Hiccup settled onto his back and fell asleep. Toothless crawled towards the Viking and sniffed him curiously. Giving the Draconic version of a shrug, Toothless settled next to Hiccup and proceeded to fall asleep…

…blissfully ignorant of the dark energy forming around the figure next to him…

…

Astrid flew through the sky at a leisurely pace, her eyes unnaturally heavy. She stifled a yawn and renewed her grip on Battleaxe's saddle. She shook her head, _Why am I so tired_?

The Nadder looked back at her Viking and saw that the warrior was starting to drift asleep. Taking a slow descent, Battleaxe fell into the trees and landed softly on the forest floor. Not a moment too soon, as Astrid slid off of the dragon and onto the ground right after she landed, briefly jolting her awake.

"M' not sleepy…" Astrid mumbled, trying to pull herself up. Failing, she fell against a tree and into a deep sleep.

Battleaxe, concerned for her warrior friend, bent down and examined the sleeping Viking. Suddenly, the dragon let out a squawking roar of shock and backed away from the figure on the ground. With a hurried flap of its wings, the Nadder took to the sky…

…as the dark energy coalesced around the sleeping figure…

…

Grey clouds circled overhead. A scorched brown earth stretched in infinite directions, infinitely flat. Still, a regular thud, like the beating of a heart, could be heard beneath it. Torment abounded in the skies above and the ground below.

"My dreams are getting more and more boring." Merlin muttered to himself, standing in the middle of it all.

Sighing, the wizard waved his hands, willing the clouds to disappear and the earth to stop shaking. He looked up at the now blank sky and willed into existence a night tableau of stars and planets. A single moon shone down from overhead, illuminating the silent ground. One benefit of being a wizard was having one's own mind under control, and that meant their rare dreams as well.

Looking back down from his handiwork, Merlin came face-to-face with large marble letters floating at eye level: THE BLACK KNIGHT SHALL FIND THE BLUE.

"Right, the prophecy." Merlin sighed. "I knew there must have been a reason for me to dream." The wizard clapped his hands together and pushed the letters away to a more reasonable distance. "Okay, let's figure out this prophecy."

With a flick of his wrist, the wizard highlighted the words BLACK and KNIGHT. "Black knight… black knight…" Merlin thought to himself, stroking his chin. "What black knights do I know? What black knights do I _not_ know?"

Ghostly castles and figures arose from the ground. Knights of all kind surrounded him. "Black Knight of Essex… The Black Knight of Umbria… Stanley the Black…" As he named them the figures drew into focus. But as soon as he summoned them up, he shook his head and dispersed the figures. "No… what other Knights…?" Knights wearing dark armor were brought into focus and were dispersed as Merlin named them. "John, Son of Jacob… Percival of Sherwood… Hector the Stoic…"

Suddenly and without warning, the figure of Chief Stoic the Vast pushed its way in front of the other knights. Merlin, though shocked by this sudden turn of his thoughts, shook his head and said, "No… but you aren't a knight, nor are you…"

The wizard suddenly had an epiphany, glancing around Stoic to see a tableau of the rest of Berk and its inhabitants. His eyes settled on one figure, a figure distinctly inhuman.

Still looking directly at the green eyes of the Night Fury, he knocked a letter off of the prophecy, changing it to a BLACK NIGHT.

"A Black Night Fury…" Merlin said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Yes… that's worthy of a prophecy. But what do I know that's blue? Think… think…" The wizard buried his head in his hands.

He froze as he heard the sound of wind, as though pushed by massive wings. The sound grew closer and closer. The wizard slowly looked up to find himself in pure darkness. Then suddenly, as though it tore through the fabric of nature itself, a creature burst into his thoughts.

All the wizard could make out was a single, glowing, pure blue eye.

He gasped and shot upright in his bed, thrust into the world of the waking. He found himself in the back room of Gobber's residence, light streaming in from under the door. He could hear movement outside, voices too, but none of that mattered. His heart raced as he though of the only blue item of significance.

With great panic, Merlin wrenched himself out of bed and threw open the knapsack next to the bed. He began to violently throw things out of the bag: dried newt's eye, a small red diary, a lucky charm (faulty) won in a game of wits with a leprechaun. All the time, he was repeating the mantra, "Please be here, please be here, please be here…"

When he realized it wasn't, the wizard buried his head in his hands and whimpered, "Aaaaaaand of course it isn't…"


	4. Chapter 4: The Magic of Panic

How to Be Your Dragon

Chapter Four: The Magic of Panic

Note: I do not own _How to Train Your Dragon_ nor any related copyrights such as Hiccup, Toothless, Berk, Astrid, and other such related characters and places.

The early morning arrived at Berk, soft orange rays glancing through the frosty air and into the sturdy homes of the resident Vikings. Some rose to work, setting out on fishing expeditions and to care for early-rising dragons. Some simply went on a stroll to enjoy the morning air, a luxury once unaffordable to battle-torn Vikings.

Four were sneaking to Gobber the Belch's residence with the subtlety of a rampaging Nadder.

"Are you sure we should do this?"

"Come on Gronkle-breath, scared?"

"Yeah, chicken?"

"Bwak, bwak?"

"What's that supposed to be?"

"A chicken, ox-brain."

"All of you, quiet!"

FOUR rampaging Nadders.

Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut all dived to the side of Gobber's house, sneaking in a way that a Night Fury wouldn't. Snotlout gave an "all clear signal" as the other three Vikings filed in, the twins carrying a ladder and Fishlegs nervously holding a bucket of ice water. The troublemaking Vikings slowly crept into the silent house, past the door where a loudly-snoring Gobber was yet to awake, and arrived at the hastily-arranged, "guest room" for Berk's newest arrival.

"All right," Snotlout whispered to the other three as they set up the ladder next to the door, "It's simple: We put the ladder up to the door, we place the bucket on top, and when the wizard comes out…" He mimed a punch to the face, "BAM! We get wizard on ice."

"I don't know if we should do this, Snotlout." Fishlegs nervously said, locked legs knocking. "I mean, he's a WIZARD."

"What'll he do," Snotlout sneered, "Straighten the horns on our helmet?"

"I read stories where people mess with wizards. They end pretty badly for those who mess with them." Fishlegs whispered, "They have their head taken off and put on backwards, they're turned into toads, their stomachs are pulled out through their throats."

"Listen, the last thing I want to think about is Ruffnut's stomach being pulled out." Tuffnut said, nearly gagging at the thought, "It's disgusting enough as it is… OW!" He screamed as his sister smacked him over the head with the back of her hand.

"Quiet!" Snotlout said, hushing the twins who were on the verge of a full-on brawl. "Give me that." He grabbed the bucket of water out of Fishlegs' hands and proceeded to climb the ladder while the twins steadied it.

"Um, I think he's awake." Fishlegs whispered, putting his ear up to the door.

"Um, I think you should shut up." Snotlout replied, steadying the bucket on top of the door.

"No seriously, I think I hear him moving." Fishlegs backed away from the door, his whispers becoming more urgent.

"What did I tell you about shwoOOAAHH!"

Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing a very frightened looking Merlin. This lead to the ladder being knocked to the side, scattering the twins. Snotlout staggered on top of the ladder a few moments, trying to regain his balance, but soon fell to the floor, the prank bucket landing over his head. At the sound of chaos, Gobber awoke and threw open the door, his "hand-axe" ready.

"Oh, Mornin'." He said to the panicked wizard, cowering Fishlegs, sprawled Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and soaked and shivering Snotlout.

Merlin looked around the room, completely ignoring the anarchy that had just occurred. "You!" He yelled as he reached for and seized Fishlegs' shirt.

"Please don't pull out my stomach!" Fishlegs screamed.

"Why would I do that?" Merlin asked, puzzled and breathless. "Look, is anything strange happening, anything out of the ordinary?"

"Uhhhh…" Fishlegs stammered, fearfully watching the crazy wizard.

"You know, inexplicable storms, flames of an unusual color, things moving that aren't supposed to…"

"The dead rising from their graves?" Fishlegs offered.

The wizard paled, his face a mask of fear, and asked, "Are they?"

"No…" Snotlout finally said, pulling the bucket off of his head.

"Should they?" Tuffnut asked from the floor.

Merlin looked around at the small group of Vikings before him, now even more scared and confused than after the prophecy. "No!" He called out suddenly, abruptly changing to a happy tone. "Why should they? That's not normal, unless it _is_ normal for…uh…here. Is it? No…"

Laughing nervously, he backed to the front door where he collided into a towering figure that blocked his exit. Slowly turning, Merlin found himself at the feet of Stoic the Vast.

"Pardon me." He said, trying to walk around the wizard. Looking up, the chief surveyed the scene. "What happened here?"

There was a brief silence. "Nothing?" Snotlout finally answered.

"Good." Stoic said, putting the matter out of his head. He turned to the blacksmith and his best friend, Gobber, "Gobber, have you seen Hiccup? He didn't come back last night. Plus the Hoffersons are asking around for Astrid."

"Ah, teenagers." Gobber said reminiscing, "to be that young without a care in the world. Don't worry about them Stoic; knowing them, they're probably in the forest somewhere with Toothless…"

"The forest?" Merlin asked, causing all of the Vikings to turn to him. "The forest where… they always go to the forest?"

"Yes." Stoic asked, suspiciously. Crossing his arms, he drew himself up and inquired, "What do you know about this?"

"Me? Nothing… no… nothing at all thankfully." Melrin raised his hands defensively as the Vikings started to surround him. Backing up to the door, he continued to laugh nervously, "Not that I'm _thankful_, them being gone, because… them being gone is… bad… but not _that_ bad. No… uh… what I mean is… um… it… um… BY THE GODS, WHAT'S THAT?"

While the rest of the Vikings turned and faced the blank patch of wall Merlin pointed to, Stoic continued to glare at the wizard as he ran out of the door.

…

Laboring furiously to get air into his lungs, Merlin dashed through the forest in the early stretches of dawn. Most Vikings would have found such an excursion pleasant. Merlin was not a Viking. He was a wizard, specifically one who spent most of his time reading.

So no, he did not find it pleasant.

After his mad rush of energy had left him, Merlin finally gave into his aching body and slumped into a walk. This lasted all of five seconds before he simply stopped, his hands resting on his knees.

Breathing heavily, Merlin gasped, "Merlin, that was a bad idea, even worse than the charm to keep the city clean." Finally, the wizard regained his breath and returned to walking through the forest. Resuming the conversation he had begun with himself, Merlin said, "Look at yourself: you're on an island full of warrior Vikings AND dragons, you've lost the stone your master gave you, you've found out that this may or may not have lead to… something happening to two Viking children, and now you're lost in the woods. Still, can things…"

Merlin stopped, shaking his head, "No; do not say that. Remember what happened last time you said that? That's right, the giant soap bubble monster." Merlin sighed and continued his trek. "Okay Merlin, focus. You grabbed your wand at least." He held up the small, hastily made wand. "Rule number one: never go anywhere without your wand." Suddenly lost in his thoughts, Merlin muttered, "Rule number two: never let your wand get broken. Already failed that one…" The wizard shook his head, "Focus Merlin. Okay, assuming that you dropped the stone when the dragon attacked you, that would mean it's at the valley… thing. And if the village was that way…"

Looking up to gain his bearings, he found a dark figure lying under a large oak tree. "A dragon…?" The wizard whispered, approaching the large shape. The shape snored and turned on its side. Sleeping under the tree was a slumbering Night Fury.

"Ah, Hiccup's dragon." Merlin muttered to himself. "Maybe he can help. But do I dare wake a dragon to look for the stone…?" Weighing his options, Merlin walked towards the sleeping monster and called out, "Hello? Toothless… was it?"

The monster snorted, its head groggily rising from the ground. Grumbling, the dragon said, "Mrr… Toothless…?"

Merlin stopped mid-stride, all of the energy gone from his body. "OOoooohhh… Not Toothless…"

The dragon shook its head and blinked several times. Grumbling, it resumed talking to itself (herself if its voice was to be trusted) "Did I sleep all night? Odin, what came over me…?"

Merlin, still frozen solid, asked, "Uh… Astrid? Is that… you?"

Astrid gazed directly at the wizard through sleep-heavy eyes. "Yeah… Wait, what are you doing here? And why do I feel…?" Astrid raised a hand to her face. She stopped, suddenly awake, as a black paw was waved in front of her face.

"What?" She asked, her surprise mounting. She waved her hand; the paw waved back. Astrid gasped and leapt to her feet, or tried to and stumbled onto all fours. Turning and examining her new draconic form, Astrid took in, with mounting shock, her new Night Fury body. "What hap…? I'm… I'm a dragon? A Night Fury?"

"Apparently." Merlin finally risked. Astrid turned her attention back to the still wizard. "Um… well… It would seem… Um… okay, we can come up with a very good explanation as long as we all remain…"

Merlin was unable to continue, for an angry, heavy, Viking-turned-Night Fury had just leapt on top of him, tackling him to the ground. As Merlin tried to push himself up, Astrid slammed a paw onto his chest and growled menacingly.

"Please don't kill me." Was all the wizard was able to choke out.

"All right." Astrid said, her voice the epitome of insincere politeness. "Why don't you tell me what you did to me?"

The wizard choked under the weight of the Night Fury. "Can't… breathe…"

"WELL?" Astrid barked, dropping the nice demeanor.

Gasping for breath, Merlin wheezed, "Not my fault… the stone… the stone!"

Her ears pricking up, Astrid pulled her front paw off of the wizard's chest. Gasping for breath, Merlin staggered to his feet, his hands clutching his chest. "Oh… wow you're heavy… Not in a bad way!" He corrected himself, but Astrid's mind was elsewhere. "It's just that… Look, okay, there's this stone I have: blue, covered in runes, about the size of… you know, you probably know what it looks like by…"

"Hiccup."

"What about Hic… wait… Wait! Where are you going!" Merlin cried as Astrid suddenly turned around and proceeded to leap into the forest.

Reaching blindly, Merlin tried to stop the powerful dragon, but his hands caught nothing but air. Finally, at the last minute, Merlin grabbed Astrid's tail, but the man who couldn't survive a jog in the woods was only able to watch as he was dragged off of his feet and into the forest.

Holding on for dear life, the wizard found himself being pulled through shrubbery, trees, and even into stones. He thought he could hear some tortured being screech, but it could have just been a concussion he was developing; both were rational reasons. The world swirled around him as if he were being pulled by a large black tornado. His mind buzzed and reeled, suffering from being whipped around and _through_ obstacles.

Finally, the dragon stopped. To Merlin, the ride just stopped moving forward; the spinning and lurching of the merciless universe continued. Voices echoed both in and out of his head. Finally, his travels briefly resumed, and the dirty, bruised, and confused wizard found himself now looking down a precipitous cliff. At the bottom, four spinning dragons looked back up at him.

He began what was likely in his head a well-ordered argument of why he shouldn't be punished. What came out of his mouth was more likely a garbled stream of syllables and noises. Finally shaking his head, the world settled. He looked down again into the valley beneath him and saw (thankfully) two very confused Night Furies.

Taking a deep, settling breath, he said the only thing he could think of at the moment:

"Please don't kill me…"


	5. Chapter 5: The Magic of Flying

How to Be Your Dragon

Chapter Five: The Magic of Flight

Note: I do not own _How to Train Your Dragon_ nor any related copyrights such as Hiccup, Toothless, Berk, Astrid, and other such related characters and places.

"We're not going to kill you." Hiccup said from down in the valley, he and Toothless looking up at the exhausted Merlin. "Er… why are we Night Furies?"

"It's… ah… look, I'm really not all here right now, so maybe if you can let me down, let me rest, then I can explain everything completely." With a flick of her tail, Astrid sent the poor wizard tumbling into the valley. One short scream later, Merlin was laying face-down in the grass below. "Thank you Astrid," the broken wizard mumbled, "but I think I'll just lay here for a while, keep the bleeding down."

Hiccup stumbled towards the fallen Merlin. "Why are we dragons?' He again insisted. "Did you do anything? Was it the stone?"

"The stone. Yes." Merlin waved his hand over his head. "The stone, why don't we start with that? Remember when I told you that I had to deliver something important?"

"Yes." Astrid replied, having now stumbled down the edge of the valley herself. Merlin waved both of his hands as though he were stating the obvious. "Of course. But what is it?"

"I really wish I knew." Merlin groaned, dropping his hands to his sides. Angrily, Astrid took and claw and pushed the wizard's head up. "Really, I don't know!" he repeated more desperately, his voice taking on a whining tone. "After I had… well, what I did is not important… my teacher banished me and sent me to deliver the blue stone to a magical vault near the Arctic. I got thrown off by the maelstrom at Freezing to Death and wound up here."

"Okay, I believe you." Hiccup said, but there was some strange anxiousness that was creeping over him. His eyes darted to the pond intermittently.

"So you know nothing about the stone." Astrid stated as she started to sit down.

"Nothing I can't infer. He told me not to touch it with my bare hands so I assume that's what you did. How did you find the stone?"

"Toothless found it in the rocks over there." Astrid motioned to the rock pile at the other end of the pond.

"Ah, where I fell… That makes sense. Maybe When Toothless touched it, some… thing happened that messed with what it was supposed to do. Magic and dragons don't mix."

"You've said that before." Hiccup stated, continuing to look back at the pond.

"Yes, but it's very important. So, you both touched it, I assume after Toothless touched it, and… I really don't understand how it works, but that must have been the reason you're… Hiccup, what are you doing?"

Astrid and the wizard were now looking directly at the former Viking, now staring deep into the calm blue of the pool "Hmm?" Hiccup asked, startled by the sudden question. "I just… well I don't know why… it's um…" Suddenly a loud growl erupted from the dragon's stomach, causing even Toothless to flinch. "Err…" Hiccup nervously stuttered. "Um, could you give me a…"

Without warning, Hiccup leapt into the pool, sending water cascading onto the shore. Astrid and Merlin both shielded their faces as Hiccup plunged into the water, emerging with a fish clamped between two sets of sharp teeth. In a flash, Hiccup lifted his head and allowed the fish to slip down his throat. He gulped, licked his lips and looked directly at Astrid and the wizard, both with looks of shock and confusion on their face.

Hiccups ears and shoulders fell as his eyes widened. "I…" He stammered. "I just ate a whole raw fish, didn't I?"

Astrid nodded.

"Okay, draconic instincts must have passed on through the spell," Merlin said, pushing himself up into a sitting position, "giving us another look into its inner workings."

Hiccup gulped again. "Eh… yeah I suppose you're… Toothless, what the…?"

Suddenly the original Night Fury appeared beside Hiccup, sniffing his friend up and down. The dragon walked around Hiccup, examining every part of him with eager excitement. "Toothless! Easy boy…" Hiccup said as the Night Fury's face wound up inches from his own. Unconsciously, Astrid growled, a strange sense of jealousy filling her. This was unnoticed by Hiccup, Toothless, or even Astrid herself.

Merlin, however, noted it with curiosity.

Satisfied with its search, the Night Fury started leaping around with excitement. "Uh, yeah Toothless, I'm a dragon." Hiccup stuttered, walking towards his dragon. "Wow, I never thought I'd ever say that. Um, Astrid? What are we going to do about the village?"

Astrid's eyes finally flicked back to Hiccup after watching Toothless warily. "You're right! How are we going to tell everyone back in Berk?"

"Hopefully, you won't have to."

The three dragons turned to face the wizard, who was finally standing erect and brushing himself off. "I mean… It's not as though this is going to be permanent. That is, unless you want it to…" His voice trailed off suggestively.

"What?" Astrid asked incredulously.

Merlin held his hands up dismissively. "Well, I'm only making a suggestion. I mean, not all people who were transformed return to their normal forms. Plus, it's not like you're mice or pigs or," he muttered under his breath, "_soap monsters_, or anything, you're _Night Furies_." Merlin shrugged, "Isn't that… I don't know, cool?"

Astrid glared at the wizard for several tense moments. Finally she shifted back onto her hind legs and looked at herself, stretching her wings out to admire them fully. She mumbled something under her breath that sounded like, "Maybe he has a point."

"You have to admit," Hiccup said, examining himself again, "It is cool in a sort of fire-breathing death kind-of way."

"You said this might not be permanent?" Astrid asked, now looking back at the wizard.

"There's always the possibility that it will go away on its own, like some minor illness." Toothless snorted when the wizard said illness. "But a better and more likely solution is that I take the stone and disenchant it. Potentially, I can find a counter spell for what caused this transformation." He paused for a moment before adding as an afterthought, "Or… not."

Astrid and Hiccup rolled this through their minds. "Let's get the stone first." Astrid said quickly.

Merlin clapped his hands together, saying, "Great! Where's the stone?"

There was uncomfortable silence for nearly half a minute. "I was…" Astrid finally spoke up, "I was taking it to you when…"

Merlin, sensing the meaning behind Astrid's stammer, groaned heavily. "Aaaand of course you did…" Slapping his hand to his face, the wizard seemed to scream into his hands. But as Hiccup approached, the wizard raised his hands and said, "No, it's not that bad. It's not good, but not _that_ bad. If you dropped it into the forest, then we can find it with just a little search. It shouldn't take more than a day and then you can be back in Berk, pretending this never happened. All we have to do is keep it contained…"

"HICCUP!"

"ASTRID!"

"HICCUP!"

"HICCUP!"

"MERLIN!"

Appearing from over the trees, a Monstrous Nightmare touched down at the rim of the valley. On the back of the crimson beast, Snotlout cried out, "Firestorm and I found the wizard!"

Not too long later, a Gronkle bearing Fishlegs flew through the forest to the edge of the valley, followed shortly by a Hideous Zippleback carrying the twins. With a deep rumble, Stoic literally burst through the trees, felling several pines, on the back of his own Monstrous Nightmare, simply called Nightmare. Looking around, his determined eyes finally fell upon the wizard's white hair.

Not bothering to turn around, Merlin squeaked, "…and now it isn't."

In one swoop, Stoic leapt off of Nightmare and into the valley in a kneeling position. Even in this position, Merlin's eyes barely met the Viking Chief's. Glaring heavily at the wizard, Stoic stood and walked towards the helpless man. "Where is my son?" He asked, pointing an accusing finger at Merlin.

"Uh… there's a very good explanation…" Merlin stammered. While he was still feet away, Stoic grabbed the scruff of Merlin's neck and lifted him deftly into the air. Choking, Merlin squeaked, "Please don't kill me…"

"Then start explaining." Stoic growled through clenched teeth, inches from the wizard's face.

"Dad, wait…" Hiccup tried to explain, stepping towards the enraged Viking. Merlin tried to stop him with a fearful glare that succeeded in stopping the newly minted Night Fury in its tracks. However, that didn't stop Stoic from noticing the familiar voice and slowly turning to his now draconic son.

His blue eyes stared directly into Hiccup's yellow-green. "Hiccup?" The Viking Chief asked, face and voice a strange mix of shock and confusion.

"Yeah… this is going to be a fun one to explain." Merlin said, still being held a foot off of the ground. He searched for the right words, his mind working wildly. Finally, he explained, "You know, there is no easy way to say this: he's a dragon. Oh, and so is Astrid." He added, gesturing to a Night Fury that had walked up alongside Hiccup.

"Woah." The Vikings on the lip of the valley said in unison.

"Yeah." Merlin winced. "Woah…"

…

_One Explanation Later_

…

"So if I understand this," Stoic said, standing next to his dragon-son, "Hiccup and Astrid were turned into dragons because of your mysterious stone that you know nothing about and conveniently cannot find at this moment. Do I have that right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Merlin said, sitting on a nearby boulder.

For a long time, Stoic said nothing. He looked between Merlin, Astrid, and his son. Finally Hiccup broke the silence. "That _is_ what happened."

"No, I believe him." Stoic said, reassuring Hiccup. "It's just… It's a lot to comprehend, my son being… a dragon, a _Night Fury_ of all things." He chuckled. "I always knew you were close to the beast…"

Hiccup gave his lopsided smile which, in his current form, probably looked even more ridiculous than usual.

"But some things don't make sense." Astrid stated as she lay on the grass, swatting away curious Viking teenagers with her tail. "Like, why did we fall asleep before we changed?"

"And why did my leg grow back?" Hiccup asked, shaking a back hind leg that was yesterday a prosthetic.

"And how can they talk?" Snotlout finally asked.

"Please, you're asking me to understand every piece of an exotic magical object." Merlin sighed and placed his head between his hands. "Look, I'm not exactly the greatest wizard of all time."

"Oh, we already know that." Astrid commented.

"What now, wizard?" Stoic asked, walking towards Merlin. "How are we going to break this to the village that my son has turned into a dragon? How am I going to tell the Hoffersons?"

"We might not have to." Merlin defensively replied. "We can find the stone and I can have this all fixed by this evening. Our first priority should be to…"

"Hey, can you fly?"

Every Viking turned at Fishlegs' comment. "What?" he asked, "It's a legitimate question."

Hiccup looked back at his leathery wings, lost in thought. Even Astrid glanced back at her new appendages. Experimentally, she flapped one, testing to see how it moved.

"There's… no reason I can think of why they can't." Merlin replied. "Everything seems anatomically correct for flight. Then again, I don't know the mechanics of flight…"

"Well come on, let's see it!" Snotlout called out. Soon, the Viking teenagers, the first Dragon Riders, were all clamoring around Astrid and Hiccup like little children around a returning parent.

"Okay, okay, give us some room." Hiccup said, helping Astrid to push the Vikings back. He stood there, quiet as he stared around at the surrounding spectators.

"Assuming that you _do_ have dragon instincts," Merlin offered, "you should just… let your mind go blank."

The spectators looked on in hushed anticipation. Certainly, they have all flown, let alone seen a dragon take off; but this was the first time a Viking was flying on his own. Hiccup closed his eyes, blocking out the image of the Vikings. Deep inside of him, some flip seemed to be switch. He could feel his wings stretching out, causing some Vikings to step further back. A voice started in his head. It grew louder, and louder. Eventually, it was impossible to ignore.

_Go_

With a sharp beat of his wings and a rush of air, Hiccup found himself leaping into the sky. Branches glanced off his face, but he didn't care. All he could think of was the rush of wind, the feel of the wings against the sky. He opened his eyes for the first time since leaving the ground.

Flying.

He was soaring through the air, gliding on his own power. He had flown before on the back of Toothless infinite times. However, he had never flown like this before. It was as though all restrictions were removed as he sliced through the air. He was able to do whatever he wished.

Freedom.

He let out a loud whoop as he turned and looped in the air. This was answered not too long later as Astrid broke the tree line, rushing towards Hiccup. Their eyes met across the clear sky. Both dragons smiled a crooked smile.

This is how Toothless felt.

Falling back through the trees, Hiccup began to soar around the edge of the valley. The sounds of cheering and whoops from the Vikings below rang in his ears. Laughing, his eyes settled on Toothless, who watched in the center of the valley.

"Come on and join us!" Hiccup called out. Toothless stretched his wings out…

…and stopped. Slowly, Toothless looked back at his tail, a now useless contraption attached to it. His wings sank. His ears sank. His hope sank.

Trapped.

"Oh no…" Hiccup suddenly realized, the euphoria of flying having wiped it from his mind. Astrid broke through the trees to see Hiccup landing in the valley, facing a shocked Toothless. Instantly, she grasped what was wrong.

"Toothless…I…" Hiccup tried to approach the stunned dragon. However, the dragon backed away from his Rider. "Toothless…" Hiccup again insisted. In response, Toothless growled at him and dashed off towards the rocks and out of sight.

If it was possible, Hiccup thought he saw tears.

The assembled Vikings were silent, knowing Toothless far too well that the only person allowed to ride him and therefore the only person who knew how to work the complex systems on the saddle… was Hiccup…

Merlin looked between the incredibly distraught Hiccup and the rocks at the far end of the valley.

Hiccup made as if to go after Toothless, but Astrid placed a claw in front of him. Shaking her head, she whispered, "I think we should give him some time." Hiccup looked at Astrid and then at the pile of rocks. Slowly, he dipped his head and backed away.

"Okay." Merlin clapped his hands, desperate to change the subject. "We need to find that stone. The sooner we do…the sooner things get back to normal." He looked at the sullen Vikings who nodded in agreement. "Excellent! Now, before we start, I think we need to take an oath to NOT reveal this to anyone."

"Anyone from the village?" Stoic asked.

"_Especially_ from the village. The less people we get involved, the better. That way we can keep everything nice and under control. Do you think you can promise that?"

The other Vikings looked around, mulling over this request. "All right." Stoic finally said. The other Vikings soon followed:

"Okay, why not."

"Sure."

"I don't normally agree with her, but yeah."

"Great, great…" Merlin nodded happily. "Just one question first. Um… where's the fat one?"

The Vikings and dragons looked around, completely confused. "Fishlegs." Astrid finally gasped. Sure enough, the large Viking and his Gronkle were nowhere to be seen.

"You wouldn't call him the talkative type…" Merlin asked, dreading the answer, "…would you?"

All of the assembled exchanged looks. Immediately, the Vikings leapt onto their respective dragons and urged them into the sky. Astrid and Hiccup took off soaring, overtaking the others almost immediately. Hiccup stopped to take one final look back at the shadowy black figure behind the rocks before he left the valley.

As the last dragons departed, the wizard urged, "Great! Stop him… Wait. WAIT! Where are you going! Are you really leaving me here?" Merlin called franticly, waving his arms in the air, "ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO MAKE ME WALK!"


	6. Chapter 6: The Magic of Amends

How to Be Your Dragon

Chapter Six: The Magic of Amends

Note: I do not own _How to Train Your Dragon_ nor any related copyrights such as Hiccup, Toothless, Berk, Astrid, and other such related characters and places.

_Author's Note: I'm sorry for the incredible delay for this next part, but I had a major writer's block for the second half of the chapter. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy._

Trapped.

Alone in the nest of boulders, Toothless curled into a ball of dark scales. As the sounds of dragons disappeared, the once proud Night Fury sulked. All alone he lay, looking at the artificial tailfin that dangled in front of its face. Snorting in anger, Toothless moved his tail aside and closed his eyes.

Forsaken.

He knew Hiccup did care for him. Odin knows the boy's love for him was only rivaled by his love for the boy. Still, once Hiccup became a Night Fury, he should have known that not just something would change, _everything_ would change. Now Hiccup was able to fly free in the sky with Astrid while he…

_The gods could not hate me more_, the dragon thought.

"Hi."

Toothless glared at the white-haired intruder. _Thank you for proving me wrong…_

Nervously, Merlin walked towards the pile of rocks and climbed onto one of the boulders on the perimeter. "So…" Merlin attempted to begin, but the Night Fury growled and lurked away from the wizard. Settling down at the far end of the pile, he closed his eyes and pretended that the wizard was not there.

"It's the saddle, right?"

Toothless opened one eye and looked back at Merlin, who persisted in approaching the sulking dragon. "The saddle allows you to fly." Merlin pointed at the mechanics attached to Toothless' back and tail. "I'm no blacksmith, but I do know a little about pulleys and levers. The saddle allows someone to ride on your back and help you fly. Am I right?" Toothless continued to stare into the wizard's terrified blue eyes.

"Seeing as you'll only let Hiccup ride you," Merlin continued after an uncomfortable pause, "and that he can't exactly… you know…" Toothless curled up even tighter. Merlin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out the appropriate way to say it.

"I can help you."

These words, even spoken by the person he hates most on the island, caused Toothless to perk up and turn to face the wizard in shock. He narrowed his eyes and proceeded towards Merlin's stiff figure.

"I think I know how to get you to fly… without requiring someone to manipulate the saddle." Toothless' heart leapt at the thought. Happy images of flying through the sky once again, to fly through the sky with Hiccup no matter what… Toothless again narrowed his eyes, more wary of the wizard's actions.

Pulling out his wand, Merlin started, "You see, there's this spell…"

"OKAY!" Merlin cried as the dragon leapt right in front of him, nearly knocking him off of the boulder he was precariously perched on. Holding up his hands defensively, he spoke over Toothless' angry growl. "I get where you're coming from. Magic bad, baaaaaaaad magic. Magic did crazy stuff. I get that you don't trust me. _I_ wouldn't trust me in your situation." Placing his head in his free hand, Merlin muttered, "You're not helping yourself…"

Gathering himself together, Merlin looked directly into the Night Fury's eyes. "I know just as well as you do that dragons and magic do _not_ mix; it's Wizard's Rule Number 35. But, this spell doesn't affect you, it affects that contraption on your back." The wizard paused for this to sink in. "Will you at least let me explain?"

Toothless glared at the wizard, but eventually settled down and listened. "Great," Merlin said, letting out a sigh of relief, "you won't regret this. It's called Psychokinetically Enhanced Subservient Substitutiary Locomotion." Toothless cocked his head in confusion. "To explain, what I'm doing is making the saddle… smarter. I'm giving it enough intelligence to understand what needs to happen in order to enable its function, in this case how to fly. I'll also make it subservient to your thoughts, meaning that all you need to do is remember the motions. It'll be just like flying as you used to… what do you say?"

Toothless looked at the wizard for some time. Anxiously, Merlin held his breath, but he knew the answer as he could have sworn he saw a tear form in the corner of Toothless' right eye. Purring in satisfaction, Toothless, turned so that the saddle faced the wizard.

"Thank you." Merlin said, as he took his wand and pointed it at the saddle. Several seconds passed as the wizard moved his wand in intricate patters and mumbled the arcane language under his breath. But suddenly he stopped, his eyes searching the sky. "How does this go again…?"

Frightened, Toothless looked at the wizard in shock. Defensively, Merlin quickly said, "No, everything's okay. I just need to remember how this next section goes. But it's not all important." Toothless still looked at the wizard fearfully. Eventually, the wizard conceded, "Okay, it's the part of the spell that divides it between a Locomotion spell and a Non-Locomotion spell, but don't worry! I've got it now." Merlin pointed his wand back at the dragon as he muttered, "…mostly…"

Merlin resumed speaking in the arcane language as his wand slowly moved through the air like a sword, cutting away bindings of the inherent magic in the world. His voice rose, dark energies poured forth and surrounded the dragon. Disturbances in the air caused minor tornadoes to form around the wizard and dragon. Toothless winced as unfamiliar energy surrounded him, only to focus itself around the saddle on his back. The wizard started to speed up, carried on the back of his own magic. Energy swirled around the dragon; Toothless closed his eyes as the saddle on his back started to rattle. Energy was imbued in every crack of the creation. Finally, with a great sweep of the wand, Merlin ended the spell and everything stopped.

Toothless opened one eye. The saddle twitched slightly before settling down. Merlin stood some distance away, panting heavily. Toothless turned his attention back to the saddle on his back. Closing his eyes, he attempted to move his missing right tail fin.

With a creak, the saddle moved the prosthetic.

Is heart racing Toothless was still on the ground, watching as a once immobilized part of him started moving up and down, left and right, in and out. Eventually, the urge was simply too great to contain. The Night Fury suddenly started to leap around joyfully, rejoicing at the return of his appendage. Screeching, Toothless flapped his wings and took to the skies. The tail fin responded by stabilizing him so that instead of being bound to the valley yet again, Toothless was…

Free.

"Is that all the thanks I get?" Merlin called after Toothless as the dragon raced through the air towards the village. "Not even a ride! Hey, get back here!" Sighing, the wizard walked towards the edge of the small canyon. "Looks like I'm still walking…"

… … …

"Fishlegs' back!"

Gobber looked up from his anvil as the Viking flew into the village on the back of a staggering Gronkle. He dropped the fishing hook he was working on and immediately rushed towards where Fishlegs began to descend. Since Stoic and some of the others took off to find Hiccup, Astrid, and the wizard, many of the Vikings were murmuring about foul play. Some said that Hiccup and Astrid had left the island for some unfathomable reason; some said that Toothless had taken them off to parts unknown; most said that the wizard put a spell on the Viking teenagers.

Gobber personally believed that Astrid and Hiccup were simply just off in the forest playing with Toothless and…

"Help! Help!" Fishlegs called as he spiraled into the village center. In a second, Fishlegs found himself and his dragon crashed headfirst into the cobblestone walkway.

_Ooh boy…_ Gobber thought as he hobbled towards the boy.

"Easy now, let's get him up." Gobber organized the Vikings as they pulled the large Viking teenager to his feet. Red-faced and gasping for breath, Fishlegs pushed the helping hands away and nearly fell into Gobber's arms.

"Hiccup…" Fishlegs gasped.

"Hiccup? You've found Hiccup?" Gobber asked while steadying Fishlegs.

"Yes… No… well, yes but…"

"Fishlegs, stop and take a deep breath." The Viking complied to Gobber's request, taking a big wheezing breath. "Good. Now, did you find Hiccup and Astrid?"

"Yes… and no…"

Gobber looked at the Viking mouth agape. "You know what, I'm going to take that as a yes. Are they all right?"

"Yes… and no…"

"Fishlegs, you're really not helping right now…"

Before the winded Viking could continue, an iconic screech echoed through the village. Gobber looked up in time to see a large black figure round the mountain and approach the village at top speed.

"Night Fur…!" A Viking began to shout just before he was interrupted by another back figure closely following the other. At high speeds, the two dragons flew into Berk and straight towards the crash site.

"Er… TWO Night Furies!" The Viking corrected himself.

Fishlegs fell back as the two dark dragons landed in the square, scattering the assembled Vikings. Immediately, the first one tackled Fishlegs to the ground, causing him to scream in shock.

"Got you!" The first dragon gasped in a familiar feminine voice. "All right, stop running off…"

"Uh… Astrid?" The other Night Fury asked in another familiar voice, looking around at the crowd of onlookers.

"What?" The first Fury snapped back. However, she soon caught on and looked around at the villagers. In shock, she lifted her foot off of Fishlegs, allowing him to escape. "Oooooh…" Astrid realized, "We're back in the village… aren't we…?"

"Pretty much." Hiccup said, looking around at the frozen Vikings. All of the great warriors looked on as the two former Vikings straightened up and nervously smiled. "Uh… Hi everybody…" Hiccup tried.

The Vikings stared dumbstruck.

"Um… okay…" Hiccup nervously said, straightening up nervously. "Um… I know all of this seems strange but… um… you see…"

"Stoic!" One of the Vikings yelled, causing the villagers to suddenly look up to the sky. The Dragons and their riders finally caught up to the Vikings-turned-Night-Fury and landed in the center of the city, Stoic leaping off of his Nightmare before it even touched the ground.

_Oh thank Odin_ Hiccup inwardly sighed, glad to have his father here to explain everything.

"Everyone!" The Viking chief hollered, holding his hands to the sky. "May I have your attention?"

"I think you've got it." Astrid muttered to Stoic as the Vikings silently watched.

Looking around at the assembled mass, Stoic nodded and explained, "My son and Astrid Hofferson have been turned into dragons!"

"We kinda figured that…" One of the Vikings started but faltered when Stoic glared at him for interrupting.

"As I was saying," Stoic resumed, "Hiccup and Astrid have been turned into dragons by an enchanted stone that has been dropped by the wizard." The Vikings started muttering, but another glare into the crowd silenced them. "However, this stone has been lost and Odin knows what kind of trouble it can cause if left alone…"

In the midst of the muttering that started up, a lone Viking asked, "Where's Toothless?"

Stoic looked at Hiccup, who, in turn, looked at the ground. "Toothless," Stoic began, looking back at the village, "is…"

"Another Night Fury!" A Viking called out in shock and exasperation. Everyone looked in shock at the black figure that was now making a beeline for the center of the village, a familiar red fabric tailfin flapping in the wind.

"Tooth…" Hiccup began, only to be tackled by the speeding Night Fury. The two flipped over and over until they both crashed into the side of a building. Without warning, Toothless began licking Hiccup's face much like a dog excited to see his master return. Astrid ran over to the two dragons, in concern and shock. And yet a dark jealousy simmered in the back of her mind.

"Toothless, stop!" Hiccup laughed as he pushed the beast off of him and pushed himself onto all fours. "Toothless… how?"

An ecstatic Toothless flipped around and showed how the tail moved on its own accord, the stirrup clicking eerily. "Did… did Merlin…?" Toothless nodded happily and began rubbing his head up against Hiccup's, causing a nearly inaudible growl from Astrid.

"I think that answers your question." Stoic said, causing the three Night Furies and the Vikings to turn and face Stoic. "Now, we need to find that stone. It could be anywhere on the island by now, and it will take everyone working all day to find it."

The great chief looked around at the sheepish Vikings, smirking as he remembered the day he called the search for the Dragon's Nest. "Okay…" Stoic said, "but do you want an angry Astrid breathing down your neck… especially now?"

To underline his point, Astrid growled fiercely.

In a flash, the Vikings were running all over the village. Some ran for their dragons, others jumped in their homes to grab tools and supplies, but most simply ran towards the forest…

…and straight into the returning form of the panting, tired, wizard.

"What did I miss?" Merlin asked after he finally stood up and checked that he had no broken bones.

"Come on wizard," Stoic said, grabbing onto Merlin's arm." You're coming with me to look for your little stone."

"What? But… I…" However, Merlin sighed, resigning himself to his fate. "Why do I even bother…" He muttered as he was dragged into the forest by the burly Viking chief.

… … …

_Author's Notes: Oh my god, I'm alive! To all of those who feared this was gone forever, it's back! After all, I planned out this entire story last summer when I started writing it. For the love of god, I HAVE A SEQUEL IN MIND. In any case, I am definitely back and I can GARUNTEE that this story will be finished before I leave for school late August. Hell, I think I'll be done before July!_

_Then again, don't hold be to that…_

_To those directed here because they subscribed after some of my other more recent stories. Be patient, I'll get to them eventually. In the meantime, check out some other stories. You know, ones that actually update regularly…_

_To my readers, thank you for your patience and thank you for your reviews._


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